Have you seen Ginger's clothing in a film called the First Travelling Saleslady? It's quite an unknown film and deserves more recognition. It was made in 1956 and stars Ginger Rodgers (obviously) Barry Nelson and Clint Eastwood! :) Love your blog btw

I don’t believe either of us have watched it! But it’s being added to the list because this sounds amazing. When the first Google result that pops up for a Ginger film describes it as a “comedy western”, I’m sold. We’ll try and get our hands on a copy so we can write about it!

Just read your post on how Ginger Rogers was actually playing a robot in "Chance at Heaven," and I'm 100% with you. It's the only logical answer.

THANK YOU! We are glad to find others agree. Because it really doesn’t make sense otherwise. 

Hello. New to this tumblr thing. I tired to ask the following question a couple weeks back but may not have done it right. Need help in finding handbag Ginger took on first date with Joel McCrea in Primrose Path. The bag has outline of an auto on it. Any idea where I could purchase it? thx in advance.

Goodness! I’ve no idea, though, excellent choice in handbag! I’m going to pose this one to the Gingerverse..anyone have any ideas? 

Just found this blog, and I LOVE it. Whatever happened to the master post on Follow the Fleet? I hope it's still in the works!

Hallo there! So glad you’re enjoying it! The Follow the Fleet Masterpost Mission is VERY much alive and still in the works; we are sadly on a bit of an unintentional hiatus at the moment due to little things like qualification exams / application processes that may or may not decide the next phases of careers, ya know. All we have basically been emailing each other for the past month is “I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL WE CAN GET BACK TO FOCUSING ON WHAT TRULY MATTERS: WHAT GINGER WORE AND ALL THE THOUGHTS THAT REMAIN.” Thank you for bearing with us - radio silence will end soon!

Ginger Rogers as Mary Grey, with James Ellison and Kathryn Adams in Fifth Avenue Girl (1939).

This is easily my favorite scene in all of Fifth Avenue Girl: Ginger threatens the Socialist chauffeur with a butcher knife! And not in any guided defense of capitalism (although Mary Grey is definitely a “bitch betta have my MONEY” kind of girl) — just because he’s being a total jerk! To both her and to the rich, sheltered daughter of the family who is in love with him (Kathryn Adams) and I KNOW all you’re thinking right now is “OMG THIS IS DOWNTON ABBEY”, but somebody already beat both you and me to this comparison. (God bless that British telenovela, but wouldn’t Downton Abbey have been WAY MORE EXCITING if this is how one of the Ladies had decided to deal with Branson, instead of acting so regal and repressed and working within the confines of quiet disdain and snide conversation?) (Just kidding, I like that way of handling things too. Lady Mary Crawley shade 5eva.)) 

Anyway, the Marxist chauffeur is obnoxiously self-righteous in all the right ways. We consider ourselves pretty leftist on this blog, and we too would probably lean towards threatening this man with an impromptu kitchen weapon. So Ginger’s steely, resolute Mary Grey is CERTAINLY not having any of it. She’s all dressed down in the ultimate utilitarian, Spartan (code for WARRIOR, but, like, a warrior who has time-traveled and endured some tough economic times in the Depression and had to sell his actual armor and subsequently fashion metaphorical armor out of real clothes, also turned into a woman at some point) outfit on because she is going to WORK. This half of the Straightforward Power Suit means biznass. There is NOthing to distract from her mission of taking down this terrible character. (I am sad to report that he survives throughout the entire tale and persists in being horribly annoying. Them’s the breaks of a movie which is all “Hey, remember? It is tough for a lady to be in control in these here times!”)

A Brief Ode to Ginger’s Tinfoil Hat

I am a little bit sad that, like the Carioca, the “aluminum takeout container hat” trend never really took off from Flying Down to Rio. Look at how much Ginger is trying to make this happen. Look at how I could be repurposing my take-out single lady lifestyle into a proud meta fashion statement. What a fucking icon.*

*Pretty sure this dress was also zany as hell and an excellent example of Lofty Project Runway Aspirations Gone Wrong, but let’s just focus on the hat for today.

WGW Mutual Admiration Society

To distract ourselves from the enormity of finishing our Follow the Fleet fashion masterpost (which is imminent! we swear! actually, “imminent” is a bit of an overstatement; let’s say it is “coming soon to a theater near you”), we decided we’d amuse you all by each highlighting our Top 5 personal favorite WGW posts written by our other half. COME GET IT BAE (we don’t really know what “bae” means, we just know this is a Pharrell song that is fun to incorporate whenever possible). 

callmeabsurd’s faves from henriettabrown:

Robot Marjeia: In which my brilliant compatriot compares Marje Harris in Chance at Heaven to German Expressionism’s finest cinematic product, ROBOT MARIA.

Zombie William Holden: The engagement announcement we all aspire to have as conveniently shown in Forever Female.

The Boat-Baby: Possibly henriettabrown’s most revolutionary insight on this blog, nay, in life, as she decodes and successfully solves The Case of Connie Martin in Follow the Fleet.

Notice the Sexy Underwear: henriettabrown explores her temporary distress at the possibility of marital ennui between Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers at the onset of Monkey Business.

Star Wars Prequel Breakup: Linda Keene : Gay Uncle Arthur :: Natalie Portman : Teenage Darth Vader, in this sartorial examination of a Shall We Dance friend fight.

henriettabrown’s faves from callmeabsurd:

42nd Street Feathers: This outfit is crazy/beautiful and only a fictional conversation between Tim Gunn and a Project Runway contestant could ever do it justice.

THE CARIOCA: callmeabsurd honors the Moment that Started it All; also is so good at talking about sleeves! At this point if I watch a Ginger movie with sleeves, I consider it taken: “only callmeabsurd can do these sleeves justice” is a thing I have thought, more than once.

In Person Pajamas: callmeabsurd’s pajama posts are buried deep in my heart, and I struggle to choose one. I chose the fantastic In Person pajama post because it is a) hilarious, and yet b) manages to incorporate personal history in a way I found genuinely touching? Like, the best thing about that movie is 100% this post.

Weekend at the Waldorf dress of QUEENLINESS: This post has everything I love. Madonna. Complicated Lord of the Rings metaphor. Walter Pidgeon butt appreciation. LAMP APPRECIATION. callmeabsurd manages to do stream-of-conscious visual analysis which is a nifty trick I hope to pick up one day.

Fifth Avenue Girl Power Suit: Here, we get a quick deconstruction of the outfit, a deconstruction of the movie, a Parks and Rec comparison that once seen can never be unseen, and everything is good.

CLOSE-UP OF THE SEDUCTIVE POWER LUNCH TOP.

Ginger Rogers from the film Change of Heart (1934)

GUEST COSTAR FASHION MASTERPOST: Lucille Ball in Follow the Fleet

In the superbly charming and adorably flawed Follow the Fleet, it is clear that there is a starlet besides Ginger in the works. You all know who I'm talking about (also because I revealed it in the title of this post): LUCY.

(Sorry, Harriet Hilliard-turned-Nelson. I like you just fine, but this script didn't give you much to work with.)

It thrills us to no end that even in her bit part in this movie (in her blonde stage!), Lucy makes a fabulous comic / sartorial impression as the sassy, brassy Kitty Collins. You know this gal is headed places. (Fun fact: RKO, apparently, did not. According to Ginger's autobiography, her mother Lela, who secured a job as a talent management/scout over the years at RKO, had to push them to keep Lucy as one of their rising talents in the late 1930s when they were thinking about dropping her. She even threatened to walk from her position if they fired Luce! Mama Lela, standing up for the funny girls!)

Ahem. Back to Lucy.

Exhibit A: 

Lucy's ruffly floor-length tartan gown here is sort of a masterpiece. It's so delightfully offbeat, imperfectly organized, and LOUD compared to the prim and neat outfits Ginger is often wearing, or the precious ballgowns that are placed upon Harriet Hilliard. This is the boldest pattern in the movie, by far. It is a very pleasingly declarative statement for Lucy. Also, her makeup is amaze. AND her dialogue:

Connie: Kitty, there's a sailor I want to meet, how do I go about it? Kitty: Are you kidding? (This moment reminded me of an episode of Parks and Recreation where Ann is struggling to interact normally at a singles mixer, prompting two excellent reactions -- one, from the lady who organized the event: "Are you asking me how to flirt with men?" and two, from Donna: "That was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Did you grow up in the woods? Are you Nell? From the movie Nell?")

Exhibit B:

Lucy, sassing out sailors in animal print and perfect curls! LUV HUH. 

Exhibit C:

It is undeniably clear that Lucy has the most magnificent dress in "Let's Face the Music and Dance"...aside from Ginger. Or maybe (DON'T TELL ANYONE)...I might like it a little more than Ginger's? Do you remember that glorious TRAIN and how it swished so dismissively?

Her gown looks like it's made of a thin sheet of luxury aluminum foil, topped with a fur wrap. Plus, all the disdainful looks she gets to shoot at Fred Astaire! I love Freddie, and I love Ginge, but LUCY FOR THE WIN. (Mostly, Lucy-Ginger partnership for the win -- hooray for their reunion in Stage Door!)

Ginger Rogers as Ellen Saunders in The Sap From Syracuse (1930).

This is the outfit that heiress Ellen Saunders wears as she makes a bet that places her entire fortune at risk. Which…is not smart business decision. But it IS plucky!

And Ms. Ellen is doing her best to look like a lady who makes business decisions (smart or not). I mean, girl is doing her darndest to mirror her evil guardian! He is all buttoned up and respectable – and so is she! I love that she found a scarf that matches and mimics his tie. Not to mention the dark blazer.

That said, she is doing a decent job…but not a great one? The blazer – good touch, but the way it is oversize makes her kinda look like she’s playing dress-up (which she is). And the combo of pleated skirt and sweet bowed bonnet is just…AWFULLY schoolgirl. You do get why she has a guardian. Girl has NEVER done business before, and it shows.

Re: Lucy -- WHO RUN THE WORLD (GIRLS). Yes.

Re: this double date -- GINGER TRIED TO TEACH JIMMY STEWART AND HENRY FONDA THE CARIOCA. This is too much.

“Lucille Ball may have been a bit player, but right before filming began (in 1935), she briefly dated the star of “I Dream Too Much”, Henry Fonda. Ball later remembered that particular night, which was a double-date with Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart,  "We worked long and hard, Ginger and I, in front of our mirrors. We used eye shadow, plenty of mascara, pancake [makeup], deep red lipstick, rouge, everything we’d been taught in the studio cosmetic department. Then we went out to Brentwood, that’s where the boys lived. My date was Fonda. Ginger’s date was [Jimmy] Stewart. Henry cooked the dinner, and after we ate, Ginger and the boys turned on the radio in the living room and Ginger tried to teach them the carioca. I was left doing the dishes. When I finished, we went out dancing at the Coconut Grove. Freddie Martin’s orchestra. There we were, Ginger and I in our long organdy dresses, looking just as summery and smooth as we could. The date stretched into daybreak. We’d had a hilarious, wonderful evening that came to an end at Barney’s Beanery which still exists where Santa Monica [Boulevard] twists and goes east into North Hollywood. Well, it was dark and we went in and light when we came out. Hank and Jim took one look at us and said, ‘What happened?’ We said, ‘What do you mean what happened?’ And Jimmy Stewart said, ‘Well, your nighttime makeup is on awful heavy for this time of the morning.’ And Henry Fonda said, ‘Yuk!’".  Fonda, in retrospect, has his own thoughts. “Shit!” he says, "if I hadn’t said, ‘Yuk!’ If I’d behaved myself, they might have named that studio Henrylu not Desilu." Twenty-one years after I Dream Too Much, “bit player” Lucille Ball bought RKO with her husband Desi Arnaz, and renamed it Desilu. When the couple divorced in the 1960’s, Ball bought out Arnaz and became the first woman to run a major studio. “ (http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/147396%7C0/I-Dream-Too-Much.html)

Ginger Rogers as Francey Morgan in Vivacious Lady (1938).

DAMN, girl!  Are you heading to the CLUB?  A party on a BOAT?  

Oh, you’re meeting your husband’s parents for the first time?  Hmm…okay. 

Seriously, this frock is MAJOR.  Also, maybe it is a little much for a meeting with the in-laws?  I mean, if you want your new husband’s parents to think, “Wow, my only son sure landed himself a hot piece!”  Then it is perfect.  Unfortunately, super sexy is not the way to go when meeting your husband’s conservative and stuffy Southern Royalty parents.  And sure enough, everything is about to go hilariously, violently, awry. 

But to Ginger’s credit – if you’ve got to fail, you might as well fail spectacularly!  And boy, does Ginger look spectacular!  There is even a sense that she is trying, in her own glamorous nightclub way, to look respectable.  Why else would she wear a Madonna veil?  So modest!  That is, if it wasn’t sheer.  Something about a sheer item for a modest piece of clothing makes said item look even more scandalous than a straight-forward sexy outfit.  As it is, the veil brings up the Madonna angle, but also unfortunate Madonna/whore connotations. 

Still, the fact that she is even wearing this dress means that she is trying hard.  Her dress in clearly calling back to her delightful Glinda the Dainty Fairy Princess dress she wore when Jimmy fell in love with her at first sight.  It is not wholly unreasonable to think that if it worked on the son, it'll work on the parents.  The cut and shape are very similar, and the multi-colored billowing skirts give it a similar cloud-like ethereal quality.   The main difference between these dresses is of course color.  And unfortunately, what a BIG difference that color makes.  The Glinda dress owes a lot of its princess-like delicacy to its glittery lightness, blending in with her skin yet subtly differentiated by all the sparkles.  The darkness of this dress instead highlights the contrast between her skin and the dress – and when the dress is as low as this one is, draws attention to her bust. 

Oh dear, things really are going awry.  Ginger didn’t mean to nearly kill her in-laws!  Also, her dress is pretty darn low, both front and back.  Well, at least she's following the cardinal rule that if the boobs are out, the legs stay in…

Well, that didn’t last long.  But nice stockings, Ginger!  No wonder your secret mother-in-law wants to know where you get them. 

It is weird to see an outfit as pretty as this one fundamentally fail.  Luckily, it has a hidden upside, a raison d’etre, if you will.  For this dress, in my mind isn’t the Meet-the-In-Laws Dress, or even the Sexy-Black-Raincloud Dress.  No, for me, this dress is and forever will be:  The Fight Club Dress!

Yes, if you have to get in a fight at a fancy party, this is the dress!  Tight on top, with almost nothing to grab on to – Ginger is brilliant.  Even the skirt is ideal; its looseness allows unimpeded movement, and the thin layers of fabric mean that if her opponent grabs hold, it can be easily ripped away.  The biggest obstacle is the veil, and well, Ginger just threw that away.  This party is about to get real.

Ginger Rogers Meets Fashion Week (sort of) (close enough):

Laverne Cox in custom Marc Bouwer at the 2014 Emmys vs. Penny “It’s a cape!” Carroll in Swing Time (1936), aka DOUBLE WERQ.*

(also a throwback to the first outfit we covered on WGW heyyyyyyyy)

*I’m a little sad that there is definitively ZERO overlap between the costuming wardrobe on Orange Is the New Black and literally any Ginger movie ever, otherwise the show would surely be on this blog a lot more. The closest I remember to Ginger playing an inmate is in I’ll Be Seeing You, where, as I recall, she mostly wore an array of starched ruffly things, because what else to wear when sorrowfully falling in love while on furlough! And of course there’s Roxie Hart, but in true Roxie fashion, she was pretty much dressed to the nines the whole time she was behind bars, so I don’t think that counts. IN CONCLUSION: thank goodness for the red carpet.

How picture-perfect is this portrait of Ginger's "Shot Through the Heart" / "I Dreamed a Dream" / "P.S. I LOVE YOU" dress in Carefree?

Ginger Rogers -- 1938 photo by John Miehle

You Must Listen To: You Must Remember This

WGW PSA: This is not exactly Ginger Rogers-related (well....not yet...), but there is a podcast out there, Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This that happens to be: DIVINE. ALL-CAPS 4EVER DIVINE THAT IS HOW GOOD IT IS.

It is not merely a classic Hollywood-centric podcast, it is Deep Cuts. Stuff that people who are already really into movies might not know much about, or might not know anything about at all. It is RIVETING.  So far she's focused mostly on classic Hollywood, but there is other stuff, other weird, wonderful stuff.

FOLLOW HER TUMBLR, LISTEN TO ALL THE EPISODES. YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT EXPLODE FROM DELIGHT, BUT I GUARANTEE NOTHING.

http://youmustrememberthispodcast.com/

SO GOOD

300 FOLLOWERS. BOW DOWN.

We love you. All 300 of you. You are everything. This inspires us to finally get around to firming up our....yes, that's right...FOLLOW THE FLEET FASHION MASTERPOST! It is coming! It's still a jumble of paragraphs! Maybe you will see it by winter! Blame school schedules! We'll throw in our usual mini-posts here and there until then, don't worry.

Bottom line: y'all are the best. You should sing this 2NE1 song about yourself, because that is who you are. (Also, should we perhaps start integrating more K-pop into this blog? My intuition says yes.)

Ginger Rogers as Ellen Saunders in The Sap from Syracuse (1930).

Does anything shout that you are an heiress ingénue more than, 1) a cloche hat, 2) fancy fur ruff, and 3) imperious facial expression? I would argue that the answer is no. Meaning, that this here scene in the Sap from Syracuse is an example of some very effective costuming. You can just TELL that G here owns some random property near to the Mediterranean. And that she is going to compel men she doesn’t know to figure out her complicated property issues. How can they resist? She is AN HEIRESS.